IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v17y2024i22p5705-d1521236.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Environmental Policy vs. the Reality of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Top Emitting Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Nerea Portillo Juan

    (Environment, Coast and Ocean Research Laboratory, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Campus Ciudad Universitaria, Calle del Profesor Aranguren 3, 28040 Madrid, Spain)

  • Vicente Negro Valdecantos

    (Environment, Coast and Ocean Research Laboratory, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Campus Ciudad Universitaria, Calle del Profesor Aranguren 3, 28040 Madrid, Spain)

  • Javier Olalde Rodríguez

    (Environment, Coast and Ocean Research Laboratory, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Campus Ciudad Universitaria, Calle del Profesor Aranguren 3, 28040 Madrid, Spain)

  • Gregorio Iglesias

    (Civil Engineering Department, University College Cork, College Road, T12 K8AF Cork, Ireland)

Abstract

The 21st century climate crisis has been compounded by the COVID-19 health crisis and the Russian war. What at first appeared to be an opportunity to move towards sustainable growth and development has turned into the opposite. In this context, it seems necessary to pause and analyze what countries are doing and where they are heading in order to ensure that their environmental efforts are not in vain. This article analyzes the environmental policies of the seven countries emitting the most GHGs from 1990 to the present day and compares them with the reality of their emissions. These behaviors are extrapolated into the future and, finally, conclusions are drawn as to which countries are not fully living up to their commitments, which have implemented the most effective measures, and where particular attention needs to be directed for maximum efficiency in decarbonizing the energy mix.

Suggested Citation

  • Nerea Portillo Juan & Vicente Negro Valdecantos & Javier Olalde Rodríguez & Gregorio Iglesias, 2024. "Environmental Policy vs. the Reality of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Top Emitting Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-25, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:22:p:5705-:d:1521236
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/22/5705/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/22/5705/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hannesson, Rögnvaldur, 2019. "How much do European households pay for green energy?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 235-239.
    2. Vaillancourt, Kathleen & Waaub, Jean-Philippe, 2004. "Equity in international greenhouse gases abatement scenarios: A multicriteria approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 153(2), pages 489-505, March.
    3. Joshua A. Basseches & Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo & Maxwell T. Boykoff & Trevor Culhane & Galen Hall & Noel Healy & David J. Hess & David Hsu & Rachel M. Krause & Harland Prechel & J. Timmons Roberts & J, 2022. "Climate policy conflict in the U.S. states: a critical review and way forward," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 170(3), pages 1-24, February.
    4. Komiyama, Ryoichi & Fujii, Yasumasa, 2017. "Assessment of post-Fukushima renewable energy policy in Japan's nation-wide power grid," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 594-611.
    5. David Maya-Drysdale & Louise Krog Jensen & Brian Vad Mathiesen, 2020. "Energy Vision Strategies for the EU Green New Deal: A Case Study of European Cities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-20, May.
    6. Piers M. Forster & Harriet I. Forster & Mat J. Evans & Matthew J. Gidden & Chris D. Jones & Christoph A. Keller & Robin D. Lamboll & Corinne Le Quéré & Joeri Rogelj & Deborah Rosen & Carl-Friedrich Sc, 2020. "Publisher Correction: Current and future global climate impacts resulting from COVID-19," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 10(10), pages 971-971, October.
    7. Piers M. Forster & Harriet I. Forster & Mat J. Evans & Matthew J. Gidden & Chris D. Jones & Christoph A. Keller & Robin D. Lamboll & Corinne Le Quéré & Joeri Rogelj & Deborah Rosen & Carl-Friedrich Sc, 2020. "Current and future global climate impacts resulting from COVID-19," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 10(10), pages 913-919, October.
    8. Moreno, Blanca & López, Ana J. & García-Álvarez, María Teresa, 2012. "The electricity prices in the European Union. The role of renewable energies and regulatory electric market reforms," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 307-313.
    9. Lingxuan Liu & Shotaro Matsuno & Bing Zhang & Beibei Liu & Oran Young, 2013. "Local Governance on Climate Mitigation: A Comparative Study of China and Japan," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 31(3), pages 475-489, June.
    10. Maria Sharmina & Kevin Anderson & Alice Bows-Larkin, 2013. "Climate change regional review: Russia," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 4(5), pages 373-396, September.
    11. Sara Calligaris & Chiara Criscuolo & Josh De Lyon & Andrea Greppi & Oliviero Pallanch & Miguel Chaves, 2024. "Industry concentration in Europe: Trends and methodological insights," OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers 2024/06, OECD Publishing.
    12. Lin, Boqiang & Wang, Chonghao, 2024. "Does industrial relocation affect green total factor energy efficiency? Evidence from China's high energy-consuming industries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    13. Roxana Maria Bădîrcea & Alina Georgiana Manta & Nicoleta Mihaela Florea & Silvia Puiu & Liviu Florin Manta & Marius Dalian Doran, 2021. "Connecting Blue Economy and Economic Growth to Climate Change: Evidence from European Union Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-12, July.
    14. Matheus Belucio & Renato Santiago & José Alberto Fuinhas & Luiz Braun & José Antunes, 2022. "The Impact of Natural Gas, Oil, and Renewables Consumption on Carbon Dioxide Emissions: European Evidence," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-16, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Matteo Böhm & Mirco Nanni & Luca Pappalardo, 2022. "Gross polluters and vehicle emissions reduction," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 5(8), pages 699-707, August.
    2. Liu, Li-Jing & Yao, Yun-Fei & Liang, Qiao-Mei & Qian, Xiang-Yan & Xu, Chun-Lei & Wei, Si-Yi & Creutzig, Felix & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2021. "Combining economic recovery with climate change mitigation: A global evaluation of financial instruments," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 438-453.
    3. Grinin, Leonid & Grinin, Anton & Korotayev, Andrey, 2022. "COVID-19 pandemic as a trigger for the acceleration of the cybernetic revolution, transition from e-government to e-state, and change in social relations," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    4. Förster, Robert & Kaiser, Matthias & Wenninger, Simon, 2023. "Future vehicle energy supply - sustainable design and operation of hybrid hydrogen and electric microgrids," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).
    5. Cassetti, Gabriele & Boitier, Baptiste & Elia, Alessia & Le Mouël, Pierre & Gargiulo, Maurizio & Zagamé, Paul & Nikas, Alexandros & Koasidis, Konstantinos & Doukas, Haris & Chiodi, Alessandro, 2023. "The interplay among COVID-19 economic recovery, behavioural changes, and the European Green Deal: An energy-economic modelling perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PC).
    6. Yang Yang & Lili Ren & Mingxuan Wu & Hailong Wang & Fengfei Song & L. Ruby Leung & Xin Hao & Jiandong Li & Lei Chen & Huimin Li & Liangying Zeng & Yang Zhou & Pinya Wang & Hong Liao & Jing Wang & Zhen, 2022. "Abrupt emissions reductions during COVID-19 contributed to record summer rainfall in China," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-7, December.
    7. Ilan Noy & Tomáš Uher, 2022. "Economic consequences of pre-COVID-19 epidemics: a literature review," Chapters, in: Mark Skidmore (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Disasters, chapter 7, pages 117-133, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Ding, Qian & Huang, Jianbai & Chen, Jinyu & Luo, Xianfeng, 2024. "Climate warming, renewable energy consumption and rare earth market: Evidence from the United States," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
    9. Nerea Portillo Juan & Vicente Negro Valdecantos & José María del Campo, 2022. "A New Climate Change Analysis Parameter: A Global or a National Approach Dilemma," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-24, February.
    10. Avgousti, Aris & Caprioli, Francesco & Caracciolo, Giacomo & Cochard, Marion & Dallari, Pietro & Delgado-Téllez, Mar & Domingues, João & Ferdinandusse, Marien & Filip, Daniela & Nerlich, Carolin & Pra, 2023. "The climate change challenge and fiscal instruments and policies in the EU," Occasional Paper Series 315, European Central Bank.
    11. Förster, Robert & Harding, Sebastian & Buhl, Hans Ulrich, 2024. "Unleashing the economic and ecological potential of energy flexibility: Attractiveness of real-time electricity tariffs in energy crises," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    12. Wiethe, Christian & Wenninger, Simon, 2023. "The influence of building energy performance prediction accuracy on retrofit rates," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    13. Linyi Wei & Zheng Lu & Yong Wang & Xiaohong Liu & Weiyi Wang & Chenglai Wu & Xi Zhao & Stefan Rahimi & Wenwen Xia & Yiquan Jiang, 2022. "Black carbon-climate interactions regulate dust burdens over India revealed during COVID-19," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    14. Philippe Le Billon & Païvi Lujala & Devyani Singh & Vance Culbert & Berit Kristoffersen, 2021. "Fossil fuels, climate change, and the COVID-19 crisis: pathways for a just and green post-pandemic recovery," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(10), pages 1347-1356, November.
    15. O'Garra, Tanya & Fouquet, Roger, 2022. "Willingness to reduce travel consumption to support a low-carbon transition beyond COVID-19," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    16. Tian, Jinfang & Yu, Longguang & Xue, Rui & Zhuang, Shan & Shan, Yuli, 2022. "Global low-carbon energy transition in the post-COVID-19 era," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    17. Wang, Xue-Chao & Jiang, Peng & Yang, Lan & Fan, Yee Van & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Wang, Yutao, 2021. "Extended water-energy nexus contribution to environmentally-related sustainable development goals," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    18. Konhäuser, Koray & Werner, Tim, 2024. "Uncovering the financial impact of energy-efficient building characteristics with eXplainable artificial intelligence," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 374(C).
    19. Joanna Brzyska & Izabela Szamrej-Baran, 2023. "The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals: The EU Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-19, September.
    20. Saleem, Farhan & Hina, Saadia & Ullah, Irfan & Habib, Ammara & Hina, Alina & Ilyas, Sana & Hamid, Muhammad, 2024. "Impacts of irregular and strategic lockdown on air quality over Indo-Pak Subcontinent: Pre-to-post COVID-19 analysis," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:22:p:5705-:d:1521236. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.